Wild Things

About two years ago I brewed a saison, La Tarte, that was a real hit. I personally enjoy saisons that are somewhat tart and funky. That being said there are clean non-funked saisons that are exceptional as well. At the time I was too impatient to spike my saison with brett and bugs and wait in order to bring out that lovely funkiness. So I ended up adding a small amount of lactic acid to the beer during secondary and managed to create some of that twang that I was looking for. But I always thought it could get better with a little time and some assistance from brettanomyces.

This time I went with a similar recipe and added the Wyeast 5526 Brettanomyces Lambicus strain in secondary. Arguably I could have waited longer to bottle this (secondary was approximately 150 days), but I thought it would make a proper spring time offering and the sourness and twang is starting to develop nicely. Further, these beers will continue to transform in the bottle over time.  In a couple of weeks, once these beers have settled in the bottle, I will try to remember to post proper tasting notes.

Additionally, I really like to use the Wyeast Belgian Saison strain in primary to do the heavy lifting.  I prefer the Belgian variety to the French variety, mainly because I think it naturally produces some slight sourness which I like.  The French Saison strain imparts more floral notes.  Additionally, I prefer the use of Saaz and Hallertaur hops versus a french variety like Strisselspalt.
 
La Sauvage


Style: Saison

Type: All Grain Calories: 160

Rating: 0.0 Efficiency: 70 %

IBU's: 40.60 Boil Size: 5.83 Gal

Color: 6.7 SRM Batch Size: 5.00 Gal

Boil Time: 60 minutes

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Estimated Actual

Brew Date: - 11/11/2011

OG: 1.049 1.050

FG: 1.011 1.005

ABV: 4.98 % 5.89 %

Serve Date: 04/23/2012 / /


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Fermentation Steps

Name Days / Temp Estimated Actual

Primary 14 days @ 72.0°F 11/11/2011 11/11/2011

Secondary 150 days @ 72.0°F 11/25/2011 -

Grains & Adjuncts

Amount Percentage Name Time Gravity

3.50 lbs 33.33 % Munich Malt 60 mins 1.037

6.00 lbs 57.14 % Pilsner (2 Row) Bel 60 mins 1.036

1.00 lbs 9.52 % Dingemans Pale Wheat 60 mins 1.038

Hops

Amount IBU's Name Time AA %

2.00 ozs 28.65 Saaz 60 mins 4.00

1.00 ozs 8.53 Hallertauer 15 mins 4.80

1.00 ozs 3.43 Hallertauer 5 mins 4.80

Yeasts

Amount Name Laboratory / ID

1.0 pkg Belgian Saison Wyeast Labs (null)

Additions

Amount Name Time Stage

1.00 oz Coriander Seed 15 mins Boil

2.00 each Lime zest 15 mins Boil

0.75 tsp Black Pepper 15 mins Boil


Mash Profile


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Medium Body Infusion In 60 min @ 155.0°F



Add 13.12 qt ( 1.25 qt/lb ) water @ 166.0°F


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Sparge


Sparge 17.65 qt of 170.0°F water over 60 mins


Get funked,

HolzBrew